When Irregular Forces Won The Day Against Professional Armies
Massed professional armies do not always win wars. Irregular troops sometimes win; whether volunteer forces or specialists trained in unconventional ways of war. They are…
Operation Cobra, 1944: Breaking Out of Normandy
In July 1944, Normandy was the scene of fierce fighting. Operation Neptune had seen the Allies land on the coast on June 6, D-Day. Following…
Nations Which Were United As A Result Of Wars
Wars often tear nations apart. Sometimes they unite them. Whether by alliance or by conquest, countries have evolved from the heat of battle. England and…
Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Guerrilla Commander Who United Italy
Giuseppe Garibaldi is one of the most outlandish figures of 19th-century history. A passionate Italian nationalist, he was constantly at odds with the politicians who…
WWI in East Africa, and the Legendary Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck
The East African campaigns of the First World War were quite unlike the fighting that dominated Europe. Instead of the four years of trench-on-trench stalemate…
The Awesome B-54 Ultrafortress, Boeing’s Best Piston Prop Bomber That Failed To Ever Fly
War History Online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Hans Wiesman In this DAKOTA HUNTER Blog, you can read about the ultimate, most stretched version…
Operation Longcloth: The Burma Campaign of WWII – “The greatest guerrilla operation ever undertaken”
Reuters described Operation Longcloth as “the greatest guerrilla operation ever undertaken.” Louis Allen wrote that it “had panache, it had glamor, it had cheek.” It…
James H. Howard: The Only Fighter Pilot over Europe Awarded The Medal of Honor
In WWII the battle in the skies over Europe could be described as a brutal conflict of attrition, luck, and in some cases inexplicable gallantry. Allied…
Here are some of the Worst Friendly Fire incidents from before WWI
War History Online presents this Guest Article from by Martin Fejfar The term friendly fire became widely used during and after WWI although it had previously taken…
The Tragedy of the SS Cap Arcona – WWII’s Titanic
The SS Cap Arcona was a German ocean liner built in the 1920’s for the Hamburg – South America Line. She was Germany’s answer to…
The Battle of Austerlitz – Napoleon’s Greatest Success
On December 2, 1805, Napoleon achieved what many consider his greatest success. Outnumbered by the combined armies of the Russian Tsar Alexander I and the…
Purposely Going Down with His Ship, This WW2 Captain Was Awarded MoH And Saved Countless Lives
The history of war is full of various mantras that, while popular, are not always entirely accurate. It is often said that the Marines never…